Marlins decide to pass on high-profile leader

The Miami Marlins’ celebrity manager was a bust, so they’re calling one up from the minors.

Mike Redmond, who spent the past two years managing Class A teams in the Toronto Blue Jays’ system, was hired Thursday by the Marlins to replace motor-mouth Ozzie Guillen.

A former major league catcher, Redmond had not interviewed for a big league job until he met with the Marlins last week. He received a three-year contract and will be introduced today as the Marlins’ fifth manager since mid-2010.

Guillen said he would be rooting for Redmond.

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“Congrats Mike Redmond,” Guillen tweeted. “Hope the best for you. u are a good baseball man and you will have fun with the players.”

Guillen was fired last week after one season with the Marlins. A year ago they traded two minor league players to obtain him from the Chicago White Sox and gave him a team-record $10 million, four-year deal.

The rebranded Marlins moved into a new ballpark this season with a heftier payroll and high hopes, but the promising season began to derail in the first week with Guillen’s laudatory comments about former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Six months later, the episode was a factor in the decision to fire Guillen.

Redmond brings a much lower profile. A .287 hitter over 13 seasons, he played seven years for the Marlins and was the backup catcher to Ivan Rodriguez on their 2003 World Series championship team.

“I think it’s a great hire,” said Jack McKeon, who managed Redmond with the Marlins. “I’m just delighted. … He was an unselfish player and dedicated. … I thought someday he would make a good manager.”

Redmond was popular with teammates because of his droll wit, and they still fondly recall him taking batting practice naked in an indoor cage several days in a row to help the 2003 team snap a slump.

SCHILLING SUED

Rhode Island’s economic development agency sued former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and some former officials of his failed video game company, saying they committed fraud and other acts that misled the state into approving a $75 million loan guarantee.

The suit was filed in Rhode Island Superior Court four months after 38 Studios filed for bankruptcy following a spectacular collapse that has likely left the state on the hook for as much as $100 million.

SHORT HOPS

Former major league pitcher Pascual Perez, 55, who had a troubled 11-season career that included two suspensions for drug use, was killed at his home in the Dominican Republic in an apparent robbery, police said. … Ernie Hays, a St. Louis native who spent 40 seasons as Cardinals’ ballpark organist, died Wednesday at age 77 of undisclosed causes. … National League MVPs Marty Marion and Bucky Walters, and former Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert are among 10 candidates on the ballot for the baseball Hall of Fame’s pre-integration era committee. … First baseman Adam LaRoche and left-handed reliever Sean Burnett are free agents after voiding mutual options in their contracts with the Nationals. … The Brewers outrighted outfielder Nyjer Morgan to Triple-A Nashville after he slumped to .239 this year and Milwaukee missed the playoffs.